Your Healthy Living Friend

Tag: cancerous moles

Moles are black or brown growths on the skin. They can be alone or in groups and can be found anywhere on one’s skin. They are a product of skin cells clustering together, instead of spreading. These cells are known as melanocytes and are the ones responsible for skin’s natural color. Moles develop during one’s childhood and evolve as they grow to an adult. It is normal for an individual to have ten to forty moles by adulthood.

Moles will be dangerous if they are cancerous. Some discoloration may occur on your skin, and you might think that it is a normal mole. If it grows and darkens, there is a probability that it is a cancerous mole. If you are not keen to note any changes in what you think is a mole, you might end up having skin cancer.

Cancerous moles

As mentioned above, moles can evolve as one grows old. Moles on a child are likely to be flat and small lesions, which are brown in color. In one’s adolescence, they will grow to be slightly raised. When one is expectant, their moles enlarges and darkens. At the age of around seventy, they may start to degenerate and fade away.
Irrespective of your age, a mole that is normal will have sharp margins, symmetrical shape, uniform color, and a smooth contour.
For you to spot that abnormal mole that could be cancerous, then you have to look for that which does not have the above characteristics. There is an alphabetical guide that can help you to spot a cancerous mole. A-B-C-D-E-F-G, where each letter stands for a characteristic. If your mole has the following

Characteristics then it might be cancerous

Asymmetry- all the sides do not look the same

Border irregularity where the borders are uneven.

A color variation where a single mole has different colors.

Diameter which is bigger than 6mm.

Elevation where the mole raises above the surface of the skin.

Feeling or changes in sensation where the moles becomes itchy and irritating.

Growth where the mole registers a noticeable increase in its size.

Mole removal process

For you to treat cancerous moles, you need surgery for them to be cut out. What determines how the mole is going to be cut is its size, location and how deeps it penetrates.

Removal of small moles

They do not require stitches after cutting them out. A shave excision is done whereby your skin is numbed and using a knife the mole is cut out. Punch biopsy can be done whereby a tool that closely resembles a cookie cutter is used in getting rid of it.

Removal of large and deeper moles

Some cancerous moles require a minor surgery get rid of the entire mole. During this procedure, the mole together with health skin that surrounds it is removed.…